What Can Casino Gaming Tech Teach You About Money Management?

There’s an old saying in the casino world: “never bet more than you can afford to lose”. However, the reality is that professional gamblers are much more like investors playing the stock market. Yes, there are variables beyond a player’s control, but a few well-timed and well-informed moves can help overcome these factors.There are actually a lot of things we can learn from the casino world when it comes to money management and it’s not all about making the best investments.

Indeed, data from 2016 suggested that there were 10 million Bitcoin wallets active last year, with the number of transactions jumping from 80,000 to 200,000 per day. In short, more people are now turning to cryptocurrencies both as an investment commodity and as their online currency of choice. Let’s see what the casino world has to say about money management, and what it can teach us regardless whether we play or not.

A Bankroll is for Life

Perhaps the most interesting thing we can learn from the casino industry when it comes to money management is security. Every move a skilled player makes will be based on the size of their bankroll. For example, a seasoned professional poker player will only use 1% of their bankroll to buy into a tournament, as we read on Victoria Coren’s book For Richer, For Poorer. Similarly, if a cash game has a maximum buy-in of $100, an experienced player would only sit down and play if they had at least $4,000 in their bankroll.

Because casino players place so much value on the money they keep in their accounts, security is paramount. Let’s look at one of the more popular operators as an example. When you visit the Betway casino lobby, you’ll notice that the casino platform has a number of inbuilt security features.

SSL encryption, the communications security protocol first developed by Netscape Communications back in 1994 and updated many times since, ensures that information sent from the player to the website and vice versa cannot be tampered with. There is also oversight by industry regulators such as the UK Gambling Commission all help to protect players.

On top of these features, players also benefit from the oversight of the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) and ESSA (Sports Betting Integrity). Being linked to these dispute resolution agencies means players have a point of contact when things go wrong and, therefore, offers them the peace of mind they need to join an online casino.

Security is Paramount

“MasterCard SecureCode ICA Banken” (CC BY 2.0) by kalleboo

A similar trend is now starting to spread across the cryptocurrency world. Yes, the pseudo-anonymity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin offers a high degree of protection, but what if your wallet gets hacked?

According to an article by Forbes, the Federal Trade Commission received “1,038 reports” of bitcoin wallet hacking in 2013. By 2016 that figure had increased to 2,658, which represented 6.3 percent of the incidents logged with the Federal Trade Commission that year.

With this being just one instance of hackers targeting Bitcoin wallets, companies are now working to implement new security protocols in a similar way that casino sites have had to do. Jaxx recently announced that it would be using PIN code verification for all logins as of March 2017.

This technique is actually one that’s been used by banks, eWallets and even casino sites for the best part of a decade and now Bitcoin wallets are moving in that direction. Because of this, anyone with an eye on cryptocurrency should think like a casino player and ask questions such as “does this wallet provider have adequate security?”

Value is Always Relative

If there’s one thing that all online casino players understand, is that value is always relative. Because online casinos often deal with one or two major currencies, a non-native user might find the value of their bankroll can fluctuate regardless of their time at the tables. For example, a player in the UK might join a site that only accepts deposits in EUR or USD. In this instance, their GBP amount will be converted at the time of depositing and withdrawing based on the daily market rate.

Naturally, these two rates could be different, so to counter this, savvy players will watch the daily market rates and only request a withdrawal at the best times. This is the same for cryptocurrency users. If you’re a newbie and looking to use an exchange, it’s always best to survey the market rates before you make a purchase.

If 2017 has showed us anything it’s that anything can happen in the Bitcoin market. In April, the price topped $1,125 per 1 BTC thanks in part to Japan’s move to introduce new regulation for the currency. Similarly, Chinese investment has pushed the price of Litecoin to $7.75 during Q1 of 2017. In short, if you want to get the most out of your cryptocurrency investments, you should be an avid reader of market reports, news stories and the daily rates.

Think Like a Casino Pro

Although casino gaming and gamers might not seem like they have much to offer someone looking to invest some money in the cryptocurrency world, nothing could be further from the truth. Everything from the value of a bankroll and the way it’s protected to an appreciation of relative value are all things online casino players have known for years. So, the next time you want to make a move from some Bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency, you’d do well to think like a casino pro.

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